Losing The Bet
by JessJavensen
Summary: AU, set after Breaking Dawn. Jasper wins the bet with Emmett.


**Losing The Bet**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight... even though I wish I did.

**Author's Note**: I don't think this would ever happen in th Twilight universe, but I got a little tired of reading all the "Bella doesn't crave blood after the change" stories. So I attempted to change things around a bit. Please R & R, any feedback is welcome. Thanks.  
Beth.

* * *

It was quiet.

It was too quiet. The silence blanketed the house... it was wrong. She should have been able to hear every whisper, every hushed word. The silence was unnatural to her now. As if the whole world was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

She stood in the silence of her bedroom, gazing out the window at the brilliant night sky. The silence couldn't last much longer. Soon, someone would have to come and check on her. Tearing her gaze away from the night's sky, she glanced down at her feet and then lifted her eyes back to the brilliant white moon, and then began counting the numerous stars which dotted the indigo sky.

She would wait, until they came.

She would be lost in her own thoughts, until someone; perhaps her husband came to check on her.

Time passed, seconds turned into minutes, minutes became hours. No one had come yet. She wondered how long the thick silence would go on, until something happened. Pausing in her count of the glowing stars, she wondered what was going on downstairs. She wondered what would happen, and she wondered how it had come to this point... and it was then that she truly remembered.

She had been out with her husband and siblings, engaged in a hunt. She had been tracking a herd of deer, the insatiable thirst burning the back of her throat. She had already fed from two deer, but the thirst... it had kept her going. She was caught in the web of bloodlust, craving more, unable to get that damned burning sensation ad the back of her throat to stop. That had been when she smelt it; a delectable, irresistible aroma, wafting closer to her in the early evening air. As soon as she had caught the scent, it was easy to follow. She had been able to break apart from the group, turn onto another path and follow the smell to a small clearing the in forest.

It was then that she had seen them. Two grown men, clad in orange hunting vests hiding amongst the dense foliage. Obviously, they were hunters out enjoying the last bit of deer hunting season. Her family had not been the only ones tracking the deer. The smell... it was overwhelming. She could hear the sound of their heartbeats, pumping fresh blood throughout their bodies... 

maddening. The thirst was overpowering, and before she knew what she was doing, before the hunters knew what she was doing, she was on top of them. She heard her sister's scream of horror, heard her husband screaming her name. The hunters were screaming, but she hadn't cared. Then the world went red, and that accursed burning at the back of her throat finally was quenched.

A soft cry fell from her lips, as she collapsed to the thick carpet of her bedroom floor. The memory was seared fresh into her mind, and her chest tightened. If she had been human, she might have vomited or become hysterical.

But she was not human any more, and she hadn't been able to control herself.

She had been crazed, the thirst had consumed her... and she had tasted human blood.

The door to her room opened, and her husband slipped into the room silently. She felt his arms encircle her slim waist as dry sobs wracked her frame. Her cries grew louder, until she was screaming, until she didn't have a voice left to scream or cry with. Trembling in his strong arms, she lifted her eyes to meet his.

"Do you hate me?" it was only was whisper, but her voice was desperate.

"Never." His response was firm.

"I... I can't... I can't believe it... I wish... I take it back..." She stuttered. "I tried so hard to not... give in. But it was too much. I..."

"Even the best of us fall off the wagon sometimes, my love." Edward's voice was soft, a gentle attempt at what little comfort he could give her.

Bella Cullen raised her shimmering ruby gaze to his molten gold one. "I... I guess..." her voice was so hoarse she could hardly get the words out. "I guess... Jasper wins the bet then."

Edward didn't answer, maybe he wasn't able to give one, and Bella's statement was met with silence.


End file.
